The Latest

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

It's time for a journey through the NBC Wednesday schedule in 2016-17...

fall

Year

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:00

10:30

Avg

2015-16

The Mysteries of Laura

The Mysteries of Laura

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

97

2015-16

76

76

113

113

103

103

97

2016-17

Blindspot

Blindspot

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

110 (+13%)

2016-17

96 (+26%)

95.9220519799807

122 (+8%)

122 (+8%)

111 (+8%)

111 (+8%)

109.868165920332

VsAvg

+29%

0.289770474949087

+23%

0.232108077746605

+11%

0.113616940073432

+20%

Rank

1/16

1/16

2/16

2/16

5/16

5/16

4/16

After its struggles late in season one, Blindspot wasn't supposed to make much of a splash in its move to Wednesday. But it showed some real spunk in the early weeks, including a 1.3 for its first three airings at 8/7c. The low-1's made for about the same raw numbers or a little better compared with last year's The Mysteries of Laura. After very positive seasons in 2015-16, stalwarts Law and Order: SVU and Chicago PD continued the Plus growth into the fall.

winter

Year

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:00

10:30

Avg

2015-16

The Mysteries of Laura

The Mysteries of Laura

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

105

2015-16

76

76

120

120

118

118

105

2016-17

Blindspot

Blindspot

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

102 (-2%)

2016-17

76 (0%)

76.1934029911903

117 (-3%)

117 (-3%)

114 (-3%)

114 (-3%)

102.498268309577

VsAvg

+13%

0.13083083808198

+36%

0.362818977784761

+9%

0.0929208304241277

+19%

Rank

4/16

4/16

3/16

3/16

5/16

5/16

4/16

But the winter was a much different experience for Blindspot. It opened with a 1.1 on the highest-viewed January Wednesday, which was about in line with its low-end fall results, but fell the next two weeks and then dipped to a rather bad 0.8 by mid-February. SVU and PD couldn't continue the growth forever, and their relatively non-existent winter bounces put them behind the pace from last season.

spring

Year

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:00

10:30

Avg

2015-16

Heartbeat

Heartbeat

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

81

2015-16

53

53

95

95

96

96

81

2016-17

Blindspot

Blindspot

Law and Order: SVU

Law and Order: SVU

Chicago PD

Chicago PD

90 (+10%)

2016-17

72 (+37%)

72.3059844712316

95 (+0%)

95 (+0%)

101 (+6%)

101 (+6%)

89.6697871937138

VsAvg

+20%

0.195700650765619

+25%

0.25/1685128883387

+1%

0.00537678632486605

+13%

Rank

3/16

3/16

3/16

3/16

5/16

5/16

5/16

The Wednesday story took yet another turn in the spring, as Blindspot actually came back from its February lows and pulled off a string of 0.9's even amidst the Daylight Saving viewing depression. That made it a far better lead-in than the procedurals got a year ago, so their trends improved as well in the final months.

Blindspot: Tough one to grade. First of all, there's the fact that most of its real decline happened across the hiatus from last season. Then there's the timeslot move, from Monday 10/9c to Wednesday 8/7c. Despite the fact that it had a Voice lead-in, it also became less of a delayed viewing gainer in season two, so I don't think it's as much of a downgrade as it appears. And then there's the roller coaster that was its season two performance. Overall, True Plus says it declined around 20%, and even if you compare 2016-17 with just the weaker spring 2016 run, it was still about 5% weaker. That's the number I'm going with here. Grade: C+.

Law and Order: SVU: Its Plus growth trend finally came to an end, and in a season when its lead-in improved noticeably. Maybe it was actually more compatible with Laura than Blindspot? Grade: B-.

Chicago PD: However, PD remained on the upswing, marking a third straight season of Plus growth. I'm not a viewer but from what I've heard about it, the loss of Sophia Bush is gonna be a real obstacle next season... Grade: B+.

The names in this last table link to the shows' War of 18-49 pages. Links with an asterisk(*) have been updated with the new info. Updates to younger shows will come later in the summer.